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September 30, 2014 SPORTS SPORTS PULASKI CITIZEN ♦ B » RAIDERS, B4 by Paul Manke POLITICAL EDITOR A struggling Ardmore, Ala., offense exploded in a 62-32 win at Limestone County rival, Clements. With its first win in 2014, Ardmore, 1-4 over- all, 0-3, returns to Class 5A, Area 8 action at Pope John Paul II, Oct. 3. “I’ve been waiting for this,” Ardmore coach Clint Legg said. Offensively, Ardmore was more balanced be- tween running and pass- ing than it has been all season, and the Ardmore coach was particularly pleased with the offensive line play. “The offensive line dominated,” he said. “On defense, we need to shore up a few things,” he said, though the points allowed were the fewest given up by Ardmore in 2014. Winless Clements came out fired up on home- coming, taking a 7-0 lead on the second play of the game when Ontario Patrick sprinted 70 yards off tackle for the go-ahead score. Clements added the extra point. Ardmore trailed and seemed doomed to repeat past losses, but sopho- more Keegan Potter re- turned the Clements kick- off for a touchdown, and Tyler Swafford kicked the extra point to tie the game 30 seconds into the contest. Ardmore never again trailed. Offensively, Ardmore’s game plan was not to take what the Clements defense would give, Legg said. “We wanted to hit them in the mouth.” Most of Ardmore’s scor- ing has come from sus- tained ball control drives with lots of rushing plays. More big plays marked the Clements game. As time ran out in the first half, Ardmore quar- terback Garett Miller connected with James Kellum on a 30-yard scoring pass and with the extra pass led 42-20. The four-play drive started from the Ardmore 28-yard line with just over one minute left in the half. Ardmore’s second touchdown came on Dominique Clemons’ 64-yard touchdown run. The drive started from the Tiger 25-yard line and spanned six plays. Kellum intercepted the ball to stop Clements’ next drive and give his team possession on the Clements 38-yard line. He also caught a 12-yard pass on the eight-play drive in which Braydon Edwards scored on a five-yard run, and Ardmore led 21-7 with the extra point. The Tigers also scored on a six-play drive to lead 28-7 on Clemons’ diving catch in the end zone on a 25-yard pass play from Miller and the extra point. On its next scoring drive, Ardmore opened the drive with two penal- ties, then went 77 yards in five plays with Clem- ons scoring on a one-yard run. He also caught a 26-yard pass and rushed for 15 yards on the drive. Ardmore took the open- ing kick of the third quar- ter and drove 71 yards in 11 plays with Miller scoring on a five-yard run. After getting the ball back on downs, the Tigers went 75 yards in six plays with Potter scoring on a 16-yard run. With the extra point, Ardmore led 55-20 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Aus- tin Pugh scored on a two- yard scoring run, and Ardmore led 62-26 with approximately five and a half minutes left. On the drive Ardmore went 55 yards in nine plays. Potter rushed for 15 yards and Cody Fox for 12 yards on the drive. Homestanding Cle- ments scored with two and-a-half minutes left on a 14-yard pass to Bradley Lynn. The 81-yard drive took seven plays. Tigers Earn First Victory Against Rival Clements Clements also scored on a 45-yard run by Patrick 30 seconds into the fourth quarter and on a five-yard run with just over one minute left in the first half by Carson Cook. Cook’s scoring carry capped a seven-play, 65- yard drive, while Patrick’s score finished a two play, 54-yard drive. by Mark Mize STAFF WRITER “Sports is human life in microcosm,” Howard Cosell once stated, and on homecoming night at Richland School, the Raiders’ 12-6 victory over East Robertson exempli- fied a mix of drama and pageantry even the best screenplay would struggle to replicate. For one night, the truth was stranger than fiction in Lynnville, as the homecoming king turned in a 254-yard, two-touchdown perfor- mance; the first-year head coach earned a hard- fought first win with his new program before in- viting radio listeners in the postgame interview to believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins; and the Raiders snapped a 15-game losing streak against a team they had upset more than a decade early in the open- ing round of the 2005 playoffs. “We were progress- ing week-to-week,” said first-year head coach Joe Moos. “You couldn’t see it sometimes in the Conquer and Prevail Homecoming King Rushes for 254 Yards as Raiders Snap 15-Game Skid scores, but I believe that we were getting better, and it showed tonight.” The homecoming win had it all, and it all started with an inspired first half from both the offensive and defensive units of a beleaguered Richland team. Richland (1-5, 0-2) received the opening kickoff, and the offense immediately used an up- tempo scheme to push the Indians to the brink on a drive which includ- ed 34 rushing yards from senior and newly elected homecoming king, John Hinkle. Hinkle set the Raiders up with a first and goal situation after converting on third and 19 with a 23-yard scam- per. However, Richland moved back 10 yards on a holding penalty, and quarterback Hollis Helton was sacked two plays later, as the offense came up empty on its first drive. East Robertson (1-5, 1-1) came out for its first drive which featured a heavy dose of runs out of the I and Singleback formations. The Indians’ opening drive stalled and the team was forced to punt. On the ensuing posses- sion, disaster was narrow- ly avoided by the Raiders when a three-and-out forced a punt. The snap bounced twice off the turf before punter Josh Hub- bock was able to corral the ball and sprint to his right to narrowly dodge a defender. With two more Indians’ players closing in, Hubbock executed a rugby punt that rolled more than 30 yards to pin East Robertson back and save nearly 50 yards of field position. Two drives later, the Indians scored on a 15- yard touchdown run by halfback Brenden Moore, who earlier had a punt return for a touchdown called back on a penalty. The extra point sailed low of the uprights, and East Robertson led 6-0. Richland put together its second strong drive of the game midway through the second quar- ter fueled by a 43-yard run by John Hinkle. A fumbled snap and pen- alty stalled a drive inside the 10-yard line for the second time on the eve- ning, though, resulting in another turnover on downs. The Indians drove deep into Richland territory just before the half. How- ever, after a long Moore run placed the ball inside their opponents’ 30 yard- line, freshman quarter- back Andrew Tobitt inex- plicably took a knee while his coach was clearly signaling for him to spike the ball with under 15 seconds to go in the half. The mental blunder cost East Robertson a chance to score, and the team led 6-0 at the half. Richland’s defense came out with a renewed effort after the break, stuffing the Indians’ rush- ing attack and forcing five turnovers in the second half. After fumble recoveries by Quintin Jordan and Isaac Liggett, Jake Nor- man intercepted a pass near the midfield stripe in the waning minutes of the third quarter. The mo- mentum swing was just what the Raider offense needed. Hinkle’s two-yard touchdown run capped a three-play, 56-yard drive aided by a 47-yard run by the senior, and Richland tied the score at six with 2:12 remaining in the third period. With the running game struggling, East Robert- son elected to go to the air once again on the ensuing drive after junior James Coleman who had spelled Tobitt at quar- terback. On a first and 10, Coleman faked the handoff to Moore on play-action and heaved the ball deep into single coverage on the far side of the field. Briggs tracked the ball perfectly along- side the receiver and in- tercepted the pass for his first of the season to give his offense the ball on its own 32-yard line. Richland drove the length of the field, but for the third time, the offense stalled inside the 10-yard line after four- consecutive penalties, including one on a play in which Briggs scored on a jet sweep. On first and goal from the 25, Helton threw a pass into double coverage that was picked off by an Indians’ defender to end the drive. With under fi ve min- utes remaining in the game, East Robertson drove inside its oppo- nents’ 10-yard line with a chance to take the lead. On third and 6, Coleman The Raiders rush onto the field in celebration of their 12-6 victory over East Robertson. The win snaps a 15-game losing streak for the program. TIM NAVE / WWW.TNPIX.COM John Hinkle and Sarah Shelton are crowned homecoming king and queen before Friday’s game. PHOTO COURTESY OF PAM GIBSON Caleb Briggs comes up with his first of two fourth quarter interceptions that keyed a Raiders’ rally on homecoming. TIM NAVE / WWW.TNPIX.COM Ardmore coach Clint Legg talks with star quarterback Garett Miller in Friday’s 62-32 win against rival Clements. PAUL MANKE / PULASKI CITIZEN
